Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Kay's peeps trying to exact revenge for their shameful primary loss?

Jennifer Sarver who worked on Kay's failed 2010 campaign against Rick has some words of advice on how to communicate in a campaign...

Now Sarver has turned her attention to attacking Rick's higher education reforms (link)... which has raised the ire of Rick's allies... Peggy Venable of the influential Americans for Prosperity posted about Jennifer...

Jennifer Sarver is chair of the Texas Exes Public Relations Committee and spokeswoman for the Texas Coalition for Excellence in Higher Education...and she is trashing Vedder and higher education reformers? Sounds like she needs a little schooling and UT needs some new public relations help.

It isn't just Jennifer Sarver. It is several former Kay peeps, issuing anti Rick missives... Others have also noted the strangeness of former Kay peeps leading this attack on Rick... it just feels like a personal vendetta at this point instead of a real policy difference of opinion (link). Excerpt follows...

The Coalition for Higher Excellence in Higher Education – a group that supports higher education reform ideas offered by the state’s university presidents and chancellors and has expressed concerns with some higher education reform ideas offered from outside academia – fired a rhetorical howitzer at Gov. Rick Perry yesterday. Political observers in Texas are left wondering why the organization chose to attack Perry by name and how this will play out.
The coalition’s main communications consultants used to work for U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and former president George W. Bush, two elected officials whose political interests have not always aligned perfectly with those of Perry.

[SNIP]

When asked about the statement attacking Perry by name and why it was issued, Shussler replied, “The statement was a response from the Coalition, which includes more than 200 leading Texans, including many supporters of Governor Perry, who are concerned about the negative impact of some of his higher education proposals.”
Some grassroots conservatives are troubled. “I know that Perry’s uncompromising commitment to fiscal and social conservatism doesn’t always sit well with some of the more moderate members of the Republican Party,” said State Republican Executive Committee member Jason Moore, a talk radio talk show host on KWEL in Midland. “But I’m surprised that some of the business leaders who have joined this coalition would condone these kinds of cheap shots at Perry.”
Most of the coalition’s press releases are distributed by Jenifer Sarver, who used to work on Hutchison’s staff. Sarver is chief of staff to Karen Hughes, who used to work for Gov. and later President George W. Bush. Both currently work at the Austin office of Burson-Marsteller.
Willeford said that the Burson-Marsteller firm is a paid consultant to the coalition. “As far as what is put out by the coalition and what is posted on our website, all that goes through our operating committee,” she said.

[SNIP]

But some Republican activists hope that this coalition will avoid messages that might be perceived as political attacks. “I sure hope that this coalition doesn’t allow former staffers for Hutchison and Bush to use the organization to attack Perry personally by name or harm his presidential chances in any way,” said Toby Marie Walker, a tea party activist in Waco, Texas. “Given the problems President Obama has created for our nation, the stakes are too high for that.”

More recently, pork barrel queen Kay seemed to take a swipe at Rick basically saying she basically has no plans to endorse him... saying it in a very petty and spiteful way which is the norm for Kay these days (link).

What a nightmare this whole thing must be for Kay... not only was she supposed to cruise to an easy victory over Rick she ended up losing by 20 something points... and now he is intrade's most likely candidate to be the Republican nominee surpassing Mitt Romney on that betting market (link).

For the peeps who are already putting slogans about Rick being 4 more years of Bush on bumper stickers... remember that Karen Hughes was also among Bush's big 3... Rick and W. seem to get along well personally but there is a huge chasm in the camps of the two candidates... with ironically... Rick the former Democrat being the more principled and conservative of the two... and hiring more conservative peeps around him as well as which matters tremendously when it comes to policy making...

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Hey now, campaign characters. Be nice. I know a lot of you on both sides, so I don't want any overly foul language, personal attacks on anyone other than the candidates themselves, or other party fouls. I will moderate the heck out of you if you start breaking the bounds of civility.

Twitter.com/rickvskay

Twitter.com/rickvskay

About Rick vs. Kay's Author

Both Texas born and bred AND a proud (some might say too proud) Republican, I have a keen interest in the Texas Governor's race in 2010. I wish to remain anonymous because I have good friends [read: GOOD SOURCES] on both sides of this race. Oh and I am for Rick. Kay simply pissed me off too many times.